The Harwood Union Unified School District (HUUSD) school board voted at its May 16, 2018 meeting to revive efforts to develop a proposed bond for Harwood. (Previous work on this had been tabled in 2015 when the district’s six towns became involved in the Act 46 merger process.)

Harwood, which was built in 1965, has been very well-maintained for more than 50 years. As building codes and teaching practices have evolved -- and infrastructure and systems have aged -- it has become increasingly clear that Harwood is in need of an overhaul as we strive to meet the needs of today’s students.

We will be working with the architectural firm TruexCullins, of Burlington, to review previous ideas for this project and to update them to reflect our current needs and values. One of TruexCullins’ specialities is educational design. Their frequent work with school districts and communities has helped them refine a process for data collection, community input, and design development.

We expect the process to take about a year and to include many decision points along the way. As of spring 2018, the earliest we would present a bond proposal to voters would be May of 2019, with construction beginning in the spring of 2020.

YOUR COMMENTS, IDEAS, AND SUGGESTIONS

We would love to hear your thoughts about the bond proposal. We will build times into the process where we are especially seeking reactions to work in progress, but community members can get in touch with us anytime, and as often as they’d like.

We have set up an email address related specifically to this project: [email protected]. Please note that emails sent to this address will automatically feed into a public, view-only document -- the public will be able to see your letter. To view these letters, click http://bit.ly/2KcgHIy.

Alternately, we invite you to send email or call school board members directly. Here is a link to their contact information: HUUSD Board Members

What happens with public comment? It is read and added to the wide mix of information being collected by the architects, Board members, and staff who are making recommendations and decisions. While we will not answer messages, all correspondence is read and considered!